Everyone in this thread is sugarcoating the situation for you, so I'm going to be blunt: you made the fatal mistake of including
gameplay into your porn game. Now I'm not one to throw stones in glass houses because the game I'm working on does the same thing, but you have to understand that most people who play erotic games don't want anything outside the most simple game loop in between their sex scenes. It's why they play these games in the first place.
Now someone's inevitably gonna say I'm wrong, and try to prove it by linking a handful of successful games with actual mechanics and complex loops, but most of those have either been in development for literally years (like a bunch of lewd Metroidvanias/side-scrollers), or are the result of extreme survivorship bias, or cater to an incredibly niche and loyal fanbase (ryona, guro, furry, NTR, etc.). It's getting harder and harder to get and keep attention from 'generic' players as time goes by, nevermind actual monetary support. Games that came out in 2016/17/18 wouldn't even be looked at today, let alone played by most of the community. People have become extremely picky, and we as devs can't even blame them since there's so much content out there for players to consume (much of it free).
There's a reason VNs are the go-to choice for most people looking to rub one out quickly, not just here on F95, but on the wider internet as well. Anything that gets in between players and their porn better be damned good and unique... and even then, most of them will ignore it. Your game has quality art, but it's just another 'generic' medieval fantasy game (I don't mean that as an insult, it's just that you don't target any specific niche or fetish group).
You
can still find success, but be prepared for a slog, and possibly months or even years until you build up your fanbase...
The best way to retain current patrons and grow your following with new ones is to make frequent releases... ideally at least one new content update every month. You, on the other hand, have
weekly updates according to your Patreon, which is probably doing you a disservice. You're developing a 2D game, so the amount of content you can generate, implement, bugtext, and release in a period of 7 days is probably miniscule... even moreso because you have a game with actual
mechanics that need testing and integration! If you were developing a VN then it'd make sense (tho even that is pushing it), or if you had 5-6 people on your team, but a lone dev having that kind of output for the type of game you're making just screams low-quality. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not being judgemental - I'm sure your game is great, and you're developing it with love and care. I'm just telling you what potential patrons may think.
Your Patreon Tiers have nothing to do with how long patrons will support you.
If possible, try to make more meaningful updates, and you'll retain+grow easily.
Consider releasing every 2 weeks to building anticipation and generate more content.
I also saw this on your Patreon:
That's a major red flag. Why would any potential supporter give you money when you're stretched thin over multiple projects? I'm not saying you can't work on more than one thing (believe me, I know how fatiguing burnout from a single project can be), but at the very least don't advertise it in neon glow on your main page.
This is good. Keep it up!
Hard disagree on this. His game has above-average art, and actual free-roam. Lack of exposure is his problem.
It's fine for someone not to like it, I'm not contesting that, but I think more people would play if they knew about it.
Take a look at his Patreon page, he updates weekly. If anything, it's
too often! It feels cheap and rushed (not saying it is, just that anyone looking at it will probably think so... and would get fatigued after weekly update messages).
Do what
you want to do, regardless of the market. You'll hate yourself otherwise. Chasing trends and trying to max out your income will lead to burnout if you're not working on a project you enjoy. And keep in mind everyone's bias is subjective, and all the comments in this thread should be taken with a grain of salt... my own included.
Having said all that, you just have to be persistent.
Keep going, I'm rooting for you!
P.S. Followed you on Twitter, new art looks great.
